30+ Ways To Use Playdough in the classroom

Hello there and welcome! So excited to share 30+ Educational Ideas for using Playdough in the Classroom.

Let’s be honest…education has changed a lot since you and I were in school. The curriculum has gotten more rigorous and the expectations have gotten higher for younger students. But if you think about it, the kids in my Kindergarten class have only been on this earth for 4, 5, or 6 years. Wow!

Depending on where you live and/or teach, children come to us with fewer experiences and background knowledge and many have poor fine motor skills. It is my strong belief that we should offer multiple opportunities for children to practice skills through various modalities. Through my experience, I have found that using what some call ‘play’, really allows students to experiment, practice, and master the skill required. One easy and simple way to give students a hands-on opportunity to practice skills, is to use playdough. It can be easy and inexpensive to make and can be used in all grade levels and with all ages. I mean, who doesn’t LOVE playdough?!

Homemade Playdough Recipes

Before I share the 30+ educational ways to use playdough in the classroom, here are 7 recipes that can be a fun addition to plain playdough. But looking for a regular playdough recipe?

Here is a link to my own personal recipe that I make and use in my classroom. It’s easy, quick, and inexpensive to make and requires NO cream of tartar or food coloring! You can find the printable recipe here. For the classroom, I make up bags of the dry ingredients, attach labels to the front of the bag and give to parent volunteers to make batches for our classroom. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

1. Cinnamon Sparkle Playdough

2. Galaxy Playdough

3. Apple Pie Playdough

4. Snow Playdough

5. Chocolate Playdough

6. Cotton Candy Playdough

7. Frozen Inpired Playdough

Playdough In The Classroom

Now that you have your playdough made, how can you use it in your classroom for educational purposes? So glad you asked…I have 30+ ideas that are perfect for a variety of grade levels and ages!

Fine Motor Activities

Make a Face Playdoh Mats

Halloween Freaky Playdoh Masks Mats 

Playdough ‘Ice Cream’ for Pretend Ice Cream Store 

Playdough Math

Playdough Number Mats 

Using Playdough in Math

Playdough Fractions 

Number Order Sticks in Playdough 

Playdough Subtraction Smash 

Shape Playdough Mats 

Playdough Science

Playdough Planets 

Parts of a Plant Playdough Mat 

Playdough Writing

Using Playdough for the ‘How to’ Writing Process

Playdough Literacy(Letters, Sight Words, CVC words,  Spelling)

Sight Word Playdough Mats

Alphabet Playdough Mats 

Stamp & Spell Playdough 

Playdough & Alphabet Stamps 

Chicka Chicka Playdough Mats (includes: letters, numbers, and sight words!) from Buzz Into Kinder

Playdough Mats for ‘Older’ Students from Miss L’s Busy Bees 

Sight Word Playdough Mats

ABC Playdough Mats / Learning with Mrs. Langley 

Short Vowel Playdough Mats from A Pinch of Kinder

Reading & Spelling with Playdough 2 blog posts = Sea Bear’s Kindergarten

Math and Literacy Mats

Playdough Fun Math & Literacy Activities 

Extras for using Playdough in the Classroom

Using Playdough for Dental Health Month 

End of Year Playdough Gift from KFUNdamentals 

Playdough I Can Do Task Cards 

Playdough Club Parent Form

I hope that you have found an activity here today that you can use for your classroom! Have another educational idea or product to use with playdough in the classroom? Please leave me a comment and I will add it to this collection. Happy ‘Playing’ and Learning in the classroom!